Galatasaray 1 Liverpool 0
A sense of deja vu in Turkey this evening. You wouldn’t be stupid to think that you’ve already seen this match back in September and that match could have been replayed tonight and you wouldn’t have known any better it was that similar, Liverpool came flying out of the traps and should have been one or two up within the first five minutes with the mistakes Gala were making at the back. Then out of nowhere Gala win a corner with their first attack as Osimhen wins the first ball nodding it to Mario Lemina who heads home to put Gala 1-0 up in the 7th minute. From there the game was end-to-end with both teams creating a plethora of chances as neither team could really get control of the game for a sustained period of time throughout the 90 minutes. Gala had a goal ruled out for offside in the second half were Baris Alper Yilmaz was deemed to be interfering with play even though he didn’t touch the ball as Osimhen eventually scarmbled the ball in, Liverpool got away with it as the referee played on almost instantly after the linesman raised his flag. Then ten minutes later Liverpool had the ball in the net only for it to be disallowed for a Konate handball as Liverpool just couldn’t put the ball in the net for the whole game, in the end I think Liverpool will be the happier going back to Anfield next week looking to overturn just a 1-0 scoreline in the first leg.
Galatasaray can’t be beat at this stadium. The last time Gala were beat at home in a Champions League knockout tie was in 1973 and you can see why even before the game as they unveiled an amazing tifo for Victor Osimhen which set the tone for the night as Osimhen dominated Konate on the night as the Liverpool defender had a night to forget. The only problem with the Gala performance tonight was that they didn’t do what they did to Juventus in the last round and score at least 2 or 3 to take to Anfield next week, they were mightily lucky to get away alive in Turin as a dodgy red card saved their blushes on the night and they know they’ll have to be much better at Anfield next week if they want to through. I was so impressed yet again with Gabriel Sara who has to be close to getting a call-up from Brazil soon along with Noa Lang who I thought was superb on the night, we all know how good Victor Osimhen is by now and he was unlucky to have his goal disallowed by an offside that shouldn’t have been in my opinion, a big performance needed at Anfield next week if they want to through.
Not a disastrous result for Liverpool. The result isn’t a disaster for Liverpool but yet again some the performances were horrendous from what’s supposed to be Liverpool’s senior players. First of all Konate had a night to forget and was fortunate not to cost his team 1 or 2 more goals on the night as Gala missed some good chances, then you look at Wirtz coming back into the team and looking miles off the pace getting the ball taken off him over and over again then missing two or three good chances himself. I think at this point we know what Mohammed Salah is bringing to this Liverpool team which is really nothing going forward or going back and I wasn’t surprised to see Slot take him off after an hour even if Frimpong wasn’t much better on that right-hand-side. Liverpool are still the favourites to go through next week knowing just how poor Gala are away from home in Europe but they’ll have to play much better than they did tonight.
Does Arne Slot have a future at Liverpool? It’s probably a question Liverpool fans have been asking all season as the they were expected to at least challenge for the title after the spending in the summer along with winning the league at a canter last year but this season has been so disappointing from a Liverpool perspective, all the blame isn’t on Arne Slot but some of the football Liverpool have played this season has been turgid and sees them scrapping just to get back in the Champions League next season in the Premier League. They can still win two trophies this season but they play Man City at the Etihad in the FA Cup along with being in the really tough part of the draw in the Champions League that will see them play PSG or Chelsea in the next round if they can turn it around at Anfield next week. With Xabi Alonso available in the summer I wouldn’t be surprised to see Liverpool part ways with Arne Slot, especially if they don’t qualify for next seasons Champions League.
All to play for next week for Liverpool. I mean it’s almost unfathomable that Liverpool go out next week even though they face a one goal deficit as they simply have to go through to save the embarrassment that going out to Galatasaray would come with. For Gala they have to try and get that first goal next week as sitting back and doing what they did against Juventus will only end in tears in my opinion, we’ve seen how weak this Liverpool team is even at Anfield this season so there’s no reason to go there to try and hold the 1 goal lead, there’s not a chance Liverpool don’t score at least 1 so Gala will have to come forward to try and get that first goal which would force Liverpool to come out even further. Osimhen is going to have to have one hell of a game if Gala go through next week, can Victor shock Liverpool at Anfield next week? We’ll find out next Wednesday.